Group home upsets some in Fort Bend neighborhood

ZEN T.C. ZHENG, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Photo: R Clayton McKee, For The Chronicle

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Residents living on Prade Ranch Road near Sugar Land are upset that a one-story house on their cul-de-sac is being used as a group home for people who are mentally challenged. Among the upset neighbors are Jeff Moore, left, and wife Wendy, with their daughters Rebecca and Emily; Nikki Maloney; Gary Scott; Deloris Scott; and JayLynn Scott, 3. less

Residents living on Prade Ranch Road near Sugar Land are upset that a one-story house on their cul-de-sac is being used as a group home for people who are mentally challenged. Among the upset neighbors are Jeff ... more

Photo: R Clayton McKee, For The Chronicle

Group home upsets some in Fort Bend neighborhood

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It's been four months since Gary Scott put his home up for sale, but he has yet to woo a buyer.

Across the street, neighbor Doug Beddingfield has been trying to sell his home for even longer, but has not had any luck.

"We can't sell our homes. We're all stuck," Scott said.

He and his neighbors live on Prade Ranch Lane in Canyon Gate at the Brazos, a gated community in an unincorporated part of central Fort Bend County between Sugar Land and Richmond.

Next door to Scott's house is a one-story brick home that is being used as a group home for mentally challenged adults. The group home, Scott and his neighbor's say, is a deterrent to potential homebuyers.

"It feels like a convenience store next to my home," said Chris Norris, referring to the frequent vehicle traffic that comes and goes as employees leave the group home and others arrive.

The group home, once a private residence, is owned by Scioto, a Dublin, Ohio-based company that buys and leases properties for disability housing.

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Scioto's owner, Mary Bea Eaton, said her company bought the property in 2006 to lease it to Lufkin-based St. Giles Living Centers, a company that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. St. Giles uses the house to accommodate four clients.

An unknown number of St. Giles staff members work in different shifts to care for the residents while a property coordinator also goes to check on the home each week, she said.

"Typically there is direct-care staff there 24 hours a day," she said.

She described St. Giles as a reputable company.

"We have a long and very positive relationship with St. Giles. We've never had any issue with any home related to something like this," she said.

An official with St. Giles' corporate office deferred all questions to Scioto. At St. Giles' Houston-area office at 1005 Industrial Drive in Sugar Land, manager Marcus Hill declined comment.

Beddingfield said the group home's residents are poorly supervised. Some have roamed the streets and wandered in neighbor's yards, he said.

Scott, who put his house up for sale after moving to Sienna Plantation, said a resident once got into his unlocked car. Another time, he said, a resident came to his home asking for cigarettes and money.

Beddingfield said his 12-year-old daughter is nervous walking and playing outside because one resident often sits in the driveway.

"These residents are all adult males. When they stare at you, you don't know what their intentions are," Beddingfield said. "My daughter shouldn't feel uncomfortable on our own street."

HOA contacted

In complaints to the homeowners association and Crest Management, the company contracted with the association to manage the neighborhood, homeowners have urged the association to do something about the group home.

Bill Higgins, Canyon Gate's property manager with Crest Management, said he contacted both St. Giles and Scioto about the neighbors' concerns and was told that the group home is allowed to remain under a state law.

The Community Homes for Disabled Persons Act stipulates that a housing facility defined under state law as a community home for disabled people has the right to be in any residential area.

"Clearly it is the Legislature's intent to allow these homes to be operated in these communities," Higgins said. "We may not like it in our neighborhood next door to us, but unfortunately the Legislature has said otherwise."

Scott called the law "wrong and inappropriate."

"I question a law that I believe places business profits above the welfare of the residents in the neighborhood," he said. "They're solely being housed and looked after by paid staff. This can be accomplished anywhere."

Scott said he and his old neighbors are planning to push for legislative change to outlaw group homes from residential neighborhoods.

"The 24-hour operation of their business is disruptive to our quiet neighborhood," he said.

One of many in area

St. Giles is just one of the home- and community-based service providers operating 104 group homes and serving 296 residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Fort Bend County, according to Allison Lowery, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which regulates such services.

Service providers are typically reimbursed by Medicaid, a state medical assistance program for indigent people.

Under its contract with the state agency, St. Giles has been operating six group homes in the Greater Houston area, two of which are in Fort Bend County. In addition to the one on Prade Ranch Lane, the other is on Willoughby Court in the Tara subdivision, less than a mile east of Canyon Gate across Crabb River Road.

Service providers need to be certified annually by the state agency, which conducts unannounced inspections of the housing facilities each year, Lowery said.

She urged neighbors to report concerns about the care or supervision of residents of a group home or about their housing condition.

"During our reviews of these homes, one of the many things we look at is whether there is sufficient staff to meet residents' needs," she said.

"If anyone suspects staffing is insufficient, we encourage them to call us immediately ... We rely heavily on members of the public to report these concerns to us."

Kevin Barker, a director of Texana, another group-home service provider in the county, said sometimes its residents are misunderstood.

"A lot of times people are mistaken to think we are putting in people who are dangerous or have sexual deviant behaviors; the individuals that we serve typically don't have that," he said. "They may have some inappropriate social behaviors we work with, but for the most part they are very loving, kind individuals."